Noble Siblings: Wealth Arrangements & Social Configurations

Much of the power and wealth of noble families was based on their ownership of land. Family and kinship were particularly important. Kinship relationships governed the social position, life paths and opportunities of noble women and men. Research into the history of kinship has identified the en- forcement of primogeniture as a particularly striking phenomenon, which strongly favoured the eld- est son of a family in the distribution of inheritance. The project assumes that changes in property transfers and arrangements had a fundamental impact on the character of families and kin groups. In addition, the early modern period saw the emergence of an increasing number of fideicommissa, an important legal instrument in this context that has been little researched in the social and kinship his- tory of Austria. They consolidated primogeniture by stabilising estate complexes over generations under the administration of the eldest son. Sibling relationships are therefore a key element of the project, at a time when the relationship between siblings seemed to become increasingly unequal. The source material analysed covers several generations of selected families of the Habsburg nobil- ity. Sibling relationships are analysed not only in terms of dispute and conflict but also in terms of reciprocity and cooperation, negotiation and forms of interdependence. The second phase of the project focuses on three aspects in particular: firstly, the interplay between the social and familial po- sition of noble men and women and the dynamics of their relationships; secondly, the strong position of (widowed) women in sibling relationships; and thirdly, debt claims and loans as decisive features of aristocratic property relations. The project is realised in two sub-projects, which are carried out by doctoral students. Florian An- dretsch`s sub-project examines the relationship between wealth distribution, wealth arrangements and the organisation of intergenerational kinship through contracts, wills and probate proceedings. Claudia Rapberger`s sub-project uses correspondence to examine the organisation of sibling relation- ships, particularly between widowed sisters and their brothers. Women could find themselves in very different positions between their family of origin and their married family. One focus of the interpre- tation is on property issues. Methodologically, the project is based on micro-historical and historical- anthropological approaches. In the qualitative analysis, approaches from epistolary research and the history of emotions will be applied.